Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer has pointed out lack of execution from bowlers after the defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) at home in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 game on April 28. PBKS failed to defend a total of 222/4 as their pacer trio – Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson and Marco Jansen — were hit for plenty. Iyer revealed that they had planned to use the slower ones to their advantage, especially the pace-off yorkers but it didn’t go their way.
"I thought 224 on the board was a brilliant score. Kudos to the batsmen, the way they came up and they went against the bowlers. I think it was an exceptional performance, especially on this wicket, which was a bit tacky and slow. And I think we fell a bit short in our bowling, in terms of execution. We had planned to bowl a lot of slower ones, pace off, yorkers. I think we fell a bit short over there,” Iyer said at the post-match presentation.
While PBKS' batting has been lauded, none of their bowlers find themselves in the purple cap race. Arshdeep is their leading wicket-taker in the season but he has conceded runs at almost 11 runs per over. Against RR, he registered the second-worst bowling numbers for a PBKS bowler. He went for 68 runs from his quota of four overs. Lockie Ferguson wasn't impressing, going for 57 runs in his first game of the season, replacing Xavier Bartlett. Jansen struggled as well, conceding 41 runs from 3.2 overs.
Iyer was asked about their bowling lineup looking lacklustre, eventually leading to their first defeat of the season. He felt that while batters have evolved, bowlers need to focus on their execution.
“See, this is the format where I feel that a lot of players have changed their game and when they come in, they go bang from ball one. So it's an arduous task for bowlers to come with a certain plan. But at the end of the day, I feel it's all about execution. If you have a certain plan set, when you execute it well, you come out triumphs. And today it just wasn't our day,” he added.
Shashank, Stoinis ignored
However, Iyer did not use the services of Marcus Stoinis or their partnership-breaker Shashank Singh. For the game against RR, they preferred Harpreet Brar over Vijaykumar Vyshak. The left-arm spinner did well as he conceded just 25 runs from four overs in a high-scoring affair.
Do Punjab Kings have fast-bowling backups?
Going ahead, PBKS have a few pace-bowling options in their squad. Ben Dwarshuis is yet to make his first appearance along with Yash Thakur and all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai.